An Unplanned Hiatus

This was the first week of Gabe and Dante's summer vacation, and I had planned to kick things off with a bang - a day trip, some local outings, and at least one or two trips to the beach, including a beach playdate with friends. The weather looked like it was going to cooperate, too - comfortably warm the beginning of the week, and getting warmer and more humid (i.e., perfect beach weather) as the week went on.

Then my mouth started hurting on Sunday, and I spent Monday morning at the dentist's office finding out that I'd be coming back Friday for a root canal. I was disappointed that we'd have to skip our beach day Friday, but figured we could still make the most of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Instead, I've spent the past two days sidelined by a ridiculously painful abcessed tooth - an experience I never, ever want to go through again.

Today, thank god, I no longer look like I'm hiding a golf ball in my cheek, and I've actually been able to make it several hours without Advil. This is an enormous improvement from how I felt yesterday, when I actually broke down in tears several times. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, and I do not cry easily, so this was a very, very low point for me. Poor Carmine came over to me and said "No Mommy. No cry now," and when I was laying on the couch, he kept bringing me books to read.

We did manage to get out for some fun Monday - strawberry picking (9 pounds of them, which have since been turned into two pies and two jars of strawberry jam) in the morning, and a trip to Battleship Cove, which was fabulous. I would have liked to have stayed longer, but I was starting to feel pretty rotten, and Carmine was getting tired, so we'll definitely have to make another trip there sometime soon to explore more of the ships.

And today I was feeling well enough for us to visit a state park for a picnic lunch and stop at a playground on the way home, so I feel like I made up for the fact that I spent nearly all day yesterday on the couch. Gabe even commented to me at dinnertime - "Wow, Mommy - you've been on the couch like all day." They're not used to seeing me sitting down for more than 5 minutes at a time, so they definitely knew something was really off.

Due to all this horrific pain and exhaustion (being in constant pain is really physically draining), I have worked out only one time all week. For someone who normally gets in at least 6 workouts a week, this has been very strange.

At first, I felt really unsettled and uncomfortable about it. It just feels wrong to not go to the gym or run or get on my bike and move every day. But as I felt worse and worse, I didn't even care.

And now that I'm feeling better, I'm anxious to get back to it, but I also feel like maybe it's not such a bad thing that I was essentially forced to take a week off. I can't even remember the last time I had more than two days in a row off from working out. I suspect that even though it's been a little uncomfortable mentally, my body is probably appreciating the respite.

So it's been a week with some serious ups and downs, but I'm hoping it ends on an up note and we can enjoy our weekend. Serious beach weather on tap - hazy, hot, and humid - and I'm hoping to not only spend a lot of time at the beach, but maybe get in my first open-water swim, too.

And next week - Summer Vacation Kickoff, Take Two.....

Comments

[Laura]

Oh, no- that sounds miserable! Glad you're on the other side of it. Berry picking is so fun! We got blueberries this year, but didn't find a strawberry u-pick farm. Enjoy your weekend!